Ministry of Minority Affairs
Assessment and Skill Development Scheme for Women from Minority Communities
The Ministry of Minority Affairs undertakes skill development initiatives through the placement-linked schemes viz. Seekho aur Kamao and Nai Manzil. Seeko Aur Kamao Scheme aims to upgrade the skills of minority youth  in various modern courses, depending upon their qualification, present economic trends, and market potential that can earn them suitable employment or make them suitably skilled to take up self-employment.
33% of the total targets in the scheme are earmarked for female beneficiaries. The scheme was launched in Sept 2013 and till date about 4.60 lakh beneficiaries have been trained under the same. Of this, 2.64 lakh female beneficiaries  have been trained. A third-party impact evaluation of the Seekho aur Kamao scheme was conducted in 2020. As per the impact evaluation report, more than ¾ th of the respondents reported improvement in skill set after undergoing training in the scheme. Majority  of the respondents were satisfied with the nature of the job after undergoing the training programme.
The Scheme “Nai Manzil” aims to benefit the minority youth  belonging to six notified minority communities of 17-35 years of age, who do not have formal school leaving certificate, i.e., those in the category of school – dropouts or those educated in community education institutions like Madrasas. 30% of the beneficiary seats are earmarked for girl/women candidates and 5% of the beneficiary seats for persons with disability belonging to the minority community under the scheme. The scheme provides a combination of formal education  and skills, to enable beneficiaries to seek better employment and livelihood. The Scheme is implemented through selected Project Implementing Agencies  which are empanelled through an open transparent process by inviting Expression of Interest  for organizations.
Under the scheme, since inception, a total of 98697 beneficiaries  were enrolled out of which 39,635 female candidates were skill certified.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs also implements Nai Roshni scheme to empower and enhance confidence in Minority women by providing knowledge, tool and techniques for Leadership Development of Women. It is a training programme conducted for the women belonging to minority community between the age group of 18 years to 65 years. The training modules cover areas related to Programmes for women, Health and Hygiene, Legal rights of women, Financial Literacy, Digital Literacy, Swachch Bharat, Life Skills, and Advocacy for Social and Behavioural changes. So far, more than 4.35 lakh women have been benefitted under this Scheme.
Additionally, the Ministry has received Cabinet approval for an integrated scheme viz. ‘Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan ’. PM VIKAS scheme shall focus on socio-economic empowerment of minorities with special emphasis on artisan communities, women, and youth. At least 33% of the total targets in the scheme are reserved for women. One of components of the scheme aims to provide entrepreneurship and leadership support exclusively to women wherein aspiring women entrepreneurs shall be provided a 3 weeks  intensive training on an entrepreneurship development module. 10% of these women trained as entrepreneurs shall also be selected to become Business Mentors, based on their leadership qualities. These Business Mentors/ correspondents shall be provided a 30 days  training. Women entrepreneurs would be trained with a view to equip them to handhold potential entrepreneurs and help them to set-up/scale-up enterprises and develop and promote their own enterprises so as to improve their livelihood.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.